


beauty in the water

by writerlily



Series: by the sea [1]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Mermaids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-07
Updated: 2015-08-09
Packaged: 2018-04-13 12:06:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4521297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writerlily/pseuds/writerlily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Creatures like her were only legends, only talked about on conspiracy websites and wound between pages of fantasy books.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Barry swishes his right foot in the water, while balancing on his left. The water is icy cold and the sun hiding behind the thick marine layer hasn’t peaked out yet to warm the day. He takes his foot out and carefully perches himself on top of a rock to survey the sea in front of him. The waves are moving slowly, gently brushing against rocks and crawling up the shore as they stir from their slumber. He inhales deeply, enjoying the clean, salty air of the ocean and sand. 

He used to hate the water.

A bad incident involving his undeveloped swimming skills and a popped floatie in the deep end of a pool when he was younger had practically scarred him for life. It was enough for a community pool to do that to him that he only wondered how much more terrifying it would be for him to be swept away with the tides of the ever changing ocean. 

However, his opinions have changed considerably. He likes to think that it took meeting Caitlin for him to see the beauty in the ocean. The way the orange sun cuts through misty mornings and makes the grey water look like a million hues of blue, with glittering whites and yellows on top. The way the shore seems to reject the kisses of the tides, yet the tides always come back anyway. How waves seem to either be fighting against one another, or dancing with each other. 

The thing that scared him the most was the never ending depth of the sea. Researchers have only explored less than five percent of the ocean and that’s another altogether scary thought. But Caitlin is living proof that not everything hidden in uncertainty is bad.

He couldn’t believe his eyes when she first came to him. (He also likes to think that she came to him first and that their meeting was no accident. That she chose him). Creatures like her were only legends, only talked about on conspiracy websites and wound between pages of fantasy books. He was at the exact spot he is now when she swam up to him, half of her face hidden beneath the still water. The other half, her bright honey colored eyes, watching him with interest.

He almost fainted when she showed her lower body to him. Where he thought he would see two legs, he instead found a long glimmering blue tail, swaying gently in the water. She had laughed, a high pitched giddy kind of laugh, that brought him back to reality. 

A small friendship or sorts grew between them. It took time as they were both somewhat wary of each other; she was nervous that he was going to run off and tell everyone (not that he ever would, or ever will) and he was in too much disbelief to let himself believe she was real. But she was real, so very real and beautiful. He thinks back on mythical tales of sailors being lured in to the water by beautiful sea creatures that took the form of half woman and half fish. Barry kind of laughs when he realizes the same thing is probably happening to him now and he tells her so, which receives a scrunched up nose and a splash of water at him from her.

He comes back to their little hidden spot as often as he can and every time he gets there her head pops out of nowhere from beneath the surface of the water, like she’s been waiting in the exact same spot for him to come back. Conversations flow as easily between them as the water that surrounds them. She’s probably the cause of that. Whenever she’s around, things seems to come to a peaceful calm as she swims in the water with her tail gently swaying, as if teasing Barry.

She tells him little bits and pieces about her life. Like how she’s around two hundred years old and to her species, that’s practically still a child. 

Barry tries not to think too much on that. 

She tells him that she has a whole gang of sisters, some much older and much younger doing their own little acts of mischief around the world. When he asks her why she’s near him, the city, of all places she shrugs and tells him that she’s always been curious about humans. She blushes when she says that and looks up at him through her lashes with small droplets of water resting on them. 

He tells her about his family, which is easier than he would have thought. She listens intently to the story about his parents, about Joe and Iris, and even smiles and laughs in all the right places when he tells her about his own kind of mischief (that probably pales in comparison to what her sisters are doing) he and Iris got into back when they were teenagers. He thinks his life might be boring to her considering the fact that she’s an actual sea creature that’s lived for almost two hundred years, but if anything she looks fascinated by everything he tells her. And if he really lets his mind wander, he would like to think that she’s just as fascinated by _him_ as he is with her.

He thinks of her late at night. When he’s miles away from the ocean and tucked into his apartment. He even sleeps with the window cracked open, hoping for sea breeze to somehow find its way into the cracks of his home, just like Caitlin has. Grains of sand linger on his wooden floors. Dozens of books about the ocean and mythical sea creatures are stacked everywhere. Some laid open on his kitchen table, one bookmarked and resting on his dresser. There are pictures that he’s taken of the sea that are developed and hanging on his refrigerator with mix matched magnets. He even has a picture of her, that she reluctantly let him take, sternly ordering him to “mind her tail”. But that picture is deserving of more than being placed messily on his kitchen appliance. It’s in a blue frame (the kind of blue that reminds him of her shiny tail) and it rests on his bedside table.

“I wish you could come with me,” he says to her one day as he dusts the sand off of his jeans to no avail, because it’s sand, and sand clings to you no matter what. His eyes are downcast when he speaks. Some part of him feels vulnerable and like he’s shattering whatever little thing they have going on. 

She reaches up the rock and beckons him to crouch down to meet her halfway. When he’s close enough, she places her wet hand on his cheek, forcing him to look directly into her soft eyes. “I wish I could too.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He comes to her at night now. When he’s really restless and misses the way the ocean covers him like a blanket. Before meeting Caitlin, Barry would have never even dipped a toe in the ocean, and now she’s managed to get him entirely into the water. She could get him to do anything, really.
> 
> But he likes to keep that to himself.

He comes to her at night now. When he’s really restless and misses the way the ocean covers him like a blanket. Before meeting Caitlin, Barry would have never even dipped a toe in the ocean, and now she’s managed to get him entirely into the water. She could get him to do anything, really.

But he likes to keep that to himself.

She was surprised, the very first time he came to her when the moon was high in the sky. They were so used to seeing each other in the open, under the yellow sun and wide blue sky. Seeing each other at night makes things feel more intimate. He can’t see her as clearly as he can during the daytime, but it’s like his senses are on high alert. He can hear every motion she makes, every little breath she takes. Her eyes shine in the moonlight when she smiles at him, making her look even more eerie and beautiful. 

They speak less during these rare visits. There’s no steady murmur of their voices, speaking separately or overlapping when they get particularly into their conversations. Just the waves moving steadily beyond them and Barry laying on a worn out blanket as close as he can to her, while she’s stretched as far as she can without her tail drying. It’s like they’re always testing her limits, hoping that maybe going inch by inch she’ll somehow be able to join him on land. He stares at her in the pale moonlight, tracing the shadows that fall across her face with his fingers. He memorizes her face because his day always seems to go a bit smoother when the image of her smiling at him is embedded in his mind.

And when the dawn just starts to break over the horizon he leans forward to kiss her cheek, sometimes her forehead, in a way that can only be described as sweet. She tells him she didn’t know that a human could feel so good and some stupid part of himself has him telling her that she has _no idea_ just how good a human can feel. And she must understand the innuendo because suddenly the front of his body is splashed with water, while she gives him a less-than-impressed smile.

He meets up with Iris one Sunday afternoon, when he isn’t busy at the precinct and Caitlin is out swimming for food. He has a small smile on his face when he thinks about her swimming on her back and humming while he watches her from the shore. That’s how Iris finds him when she shows up ten minutes late. He’s smiling stupidly down into his mug of coffee and barely even notices Iris dropping into the red plastic chair across from him.

A hand in front of his face makes him look up. “Earth to Barry,” she sings at him and laughs when he mumbles a quick apology and greeting. “Who is she?”

Barry splutters. “What?” 

“Who’s got you smiling like that?” She says with a knowing smile as she leans forward to snatch the blueberry muffin he ordered for her off of his plate. “I haven’t seen you look that smitten since... Well, I’ve never seen you like that. Spill the details.”

Barry pauses a moment to think about her words and how true they are. He’s never felt this way for anyone, really, and it makes his stomach flip. “She’s...” He smiles. “She’s beautiful,” he starts slowly and Iris lets out a dreamy sigh that almost makes Barry roll his eyes. “She’s kind. Smart. She makes me laugh,” he says sheepishly looking down at his hands wrapped around his mug. 

“Wow.”

“I know.”

“When do I get to meet her?” She asks just as he takes a sip of his lukewarm coffee. He splutters it out, little droplets splashing on the table. Iris cringes and makes quick work of wiping the table while shoving napkins at him.

He wipes his mouth and frowns. Of course he’s thought about Caitlin meeting his family, but it’s all been wishful thinking because it’s not as if Caitlin can just magically walk out of the water and it’s not as if he can tell his family the truth. And he’s never been one for lying which just makes this an all around sticky situation. He mentally sighs.

“Oh... I don’t know if now is the right time,” he chuckles nervously and balls up the dirty napkins to push aside. “Still early. You know how it is.”

Iris’ eyes narrow just the slightest. “You’re terrible at lying,” case in point. “But I won’t press. Just know that I am very curious and anticipating meeting the girl who can manage to make you smile more. And look tan. Have you been spending more time in the sun?” She says as she licks her thumb and wipes it across Barry’s nose in a very motherly way that has him batting her arm. “You even have freckles!”

Iris thankfully drops the subject when he brings up Eddie and they spend the rest of their little meet up talking about her relationship, things going on at the precinct, and Joe’s need for an updated wardrobe change because, hello, no one should still have leather blazers in their closet. They part ways with a tight hug and Barry making an empty promise to introduce her to Caitlin as soon as possible.

He makes his way to the beach afterwards with something weighing heavily on his chest until he sees Caitlin, swimming towards him with a smile. He thinks that this makes up for earlier especially when he leans down and she presses a wet kiss to his sun kissed cheek.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you liked it :) comments, or kudos, are always appreciated!


End file.
